Home Office

Deportation: Terrorism

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK nationals have returned to the UK after being deported from other countries on suspicion of terror offences by country of deportation in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The UK government does not hold a complete data set relating to individuals deported to the UK, broken down in this way, since UK nationals are not as a matter of course subject to immigration controls on arrival. In addition, not all countries will disclose that they are deporting an individual to the UK or that that there is a terrorism concern relating to them.The UK has developed close partnerships with countries which are a priority for joint work on international counter-terrorism in order to manage the risk to the UK from terrorism. Data on the use of tools and powers available to manage the threat to the UK from individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism, including managing their return to the UK, are due for publication shortly in the annual Government Transparency Report on Disruptive and Investigatory Powers.

Home Office: EU Law

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which regulations her Department (a) has introduced as a result of EU legislation from 23 June 2016 to date and (b) expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019; and what estimate she has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.

Caroline Nokes: My department has introduced 5 regulations as a result of EU legislation since 23 June 2016.In 2018, we expect to introduce a further 4 regulations.In 2019, we do not expect to introduce any regulations as a result of EU legislation. However, the exact number is subject to ongoing negotiations.All regulations implementing EU legislation that have been introduced since 2013 and impact assessments, where available, can be found on www.legislation.gov.uk.

Deportation: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much she has reallocated from her Department's budget for (a) low-level crime and (b) intelligence to the budget for enforced removals in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: In 2017/18, the Department reallocated £10m from Immigration Enforcement’s criminal investigations budget to the enforced removals budget.This was undertaken as part of a broader rebalancing of the Department’s strategic approach to immigration crime, where a greater focus was placed on disrupting and dismantling the most serious and complex organised criminal groups that are involved in exploiting the vulnerable through human trafficking and modern slavery.

Undocumented Migrants

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 121760 and the Answers of 23 February 2018 to Questions 128606 and 128605, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that immigration enforcement operations and subsequent detentions are compliant with all equality legislation.

Caroline Nokes: Policy guidance for Immigration Enforcement is published on Gov.uk and covers all relevant equalities considerations.The chapters on operational planning, identifying people at risk, search and seizure, pregnant women in detention and adults at risk in immigration detention are of particular relevance.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575529/Operational-planning-and-briefing-v1.pdfhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/537709/Identifying-people-at-risk-v1.0.pdfhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/578886/Search-and-seizure_v3.pdfhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564431/DSO_05_2016_-_Pregnant_Women_In_Detention.pdfhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721237/Adults_at_risk_in_immigration_detention_-_statutory_guidance__2_.pdfAll Home Office staff are required to complete mandatory training in relation to equality and diversity and unconscious bias. The department also provides an additional self-directed training module relating to the Equalities Act 2010 that is aimed at all staff. Compliance with the Equality Act 2010 is an integral part of the induction training provided for all operational staff.Policy guidance for Immigration Enforcement is regularly reviewed and revised to ensure that it meets necessary standards of accuracy and quality and reflects changes to legislation. Changes to guidance are communicated to staff via policy communications; more substantive changes may require specific additional training programmes.

Visas: Proof of Identity

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123852, how many instances of reimbursement for costs relating to lost documents there have been in each year since 2015.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2018 to Question 129979, how much her Department paid in reimbursement for costs relating to lost documents in 2017.

Caroline Nokes: For immigration applications, data on the number of times reimbursement of costs for lost documents have been paid and the total amount paid as reimbursement for lost documents, in the years requested, are not held centrally or published by the Home Office.However, should a customer wish to seek reimbursement for the costs of replacing a lost document, they are advised to contact UKVI and they will be dealt with on a case by case basis in accordance with the complaints procedure:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about/complaints-procedure

Deportation

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many notices of removal from the UK were issued in error by his Department in the last 10 years.

Caroline Nokes: Individuals who have been refused leave to enter at a port and those in the United Kingdom without leave to remain, following a refusal decision, will be notified of their liability to removal. These notices will also advise them of the need to raise any reasons they may have to stay in the United Kingdom as soon as reasonably practicable.An assessment of the number of times these notices were issued in error would require the examination of individual records.I am sorry but the information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Undocumented Migrants: Deportation

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to abolish net targets for the removal of illegal migrants at (a) national and (b) regional level.

Caroline Nokes: Ministers have not set specific targets for the enforced removal of illegal immigrants in 2018 – 19.

Home Office: Written Questions

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to Questions 137666, 137673, and 137674, tabled on 24 April 2018 by the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton.

Caroline Nokes: The responses for UIN 137666, 137673 and 137674 were answered on the 30th August 2018.

Crimes of Violence: Preston

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Police UK statistics, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in the number of violence and sexual offences in Preston in the last two years.

Mr Nick Hurd: Data on the number of crimes recorded by police forces in England and Wales are published quarterly. The latest figures for Preston Community Safety Partnership (CSP) show increases in recorded violence against the person and recorded sexual offences in the years ending March 2017 and March 2018 as set out below.   Year ending   Mar-16Mar-17Mar-18 % changeVolume% changeVolume% changeVolumeViolence against the personn/a3,07419%3,65738%5,045Sexual offencesn/a2923%30165%497 www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tablesThe most recent national crime figures are published by the Office for National Statistic in ‘Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2018Overall, violence recorded by police forces in England and Wales increased by 19% in the year ending March 2018, and recorded sexual offences increased by 24% over the same period. The independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that this increase is largely due to improvements in crime recording by police forces, and the increased willingness of victims to report such crimes to the police. The ONS has also noted that there have been genuine rises in some low-volume, high-harm categories of violence, notably knife crime, gun crime and homicide. Our Serious Violence Strategy, published on 9 April, puts greater focus on steering young people away from a life of crime, while continuing to promote a strong law enforcement response.https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2018

Home Office: Written Questions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to answer Question 136551 on Home Office: EU Law, tabled by the hon. Member for Shipley on 18 April 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The response for UIN 136551 was answered on the 30th August 2018.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons his Department charges the rate that it does for processing licence applications for medical cannabis.

Mr Nick Hurd: Fees for all drug licences issued are charged on a full cost recovery basis, reflecting the total cost of processing that case from start to finish. Where a fee is payable, it is charged in accordance with the Misuse of Drugs (Fees) Regulations 2010 and payable by the ‘applying’ organisation (e.g. an NHS trust). Fee payments are not ordinarily met by individual patients.The Government is committed to reviewing the fees paid for licenses that are awarded as a result of the advice of the Expert Panel. That review will take place urgently and will conclude before summer recess, with any legislation laid before the House at the first available date following its conclusion.

UK Relations with EU

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 13 of Chapter Two of the White Paper, The future relationship between the UK and the EU, Cm. 9593, published on 12 July 2018, what measures are to be covered by sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) of that paragraph.

Caroline Nokes: The EU, together with the UK and Member States, has developed a range of capabilities that provide for effective cross-border law enforcement and judicial cooperation, all with the aim of bringing more criminals to justice.We are committed to ongoing cooperation with the EU on security and law enforcement. That is why the UK is seeking a comprehensive security relationship which preserves mutually important operational capabilities whilst allowing the UK and EU to continue to work together to combat fast evolving security threats.As the UK leaves the EU, the UK will continue to have operational processes which closely align with EU tools and data sharing systems which are uniquely compatible with the EU. This means it is possible for operational cooperation to continue, albeit on the basis of a different legal relationship.We have highlighted in the White Paper (Chapter 2, Section 2.3) published on 12 July 2018 as well as in our previous publications, such as the technical note on security, law enforcement and criminal justice published on 24 May 2018, the Framework for the UK-EU Security Partnership published on 9 May 2018, and the security, law enforcement and criminal justice future partnership paper published on the 18 September 2017 a number of the tools and capabilities that we consider important.